Window of Escape
by SpikedAngelWings
Summary: Buffy dies, her friends bring her back, but she leaves something behind that could change the course of her life forever. Silas is an Angel from the Heavenly dimension that Buffy was in before being torn out of it. Can he help her get back what she left i
1. Life is so Much Easier When You're Dead

Window of Escape

By: A. G. Archer

Disclaimer: I own no-one and nothing except for those whom you don't recognize.

Rating: PG-13 for language, violence and some sexual situations... ;D

Summary: Buffy died, being torn from Heaven... everyone knows that. This time around, Buffy has lost all touch to humor... her inner child has been left behind and she has no personality without the mini-Buffy inside. Silas is an ancient Angel who had been Buffy's friend when she was in Heaven, so now he's trying to help get the child back into Buffy and help her regain her memory which she lost when she was reborn into the world of mortals and demons.

Chapter 1: Life is so Much Easier When You're Dead

Silas gaped in horror. It was an ordinary day in Heaven, yet there was a disturbing thing happening. An angel was being reborn into the world of the living. It was one of those things that you don't mess with, and yet, here it was. Being messed with. The young witch, her companion, the ex-vengeance demon and the mortal, all conjuring _down_ an angel... Elizabeth Anne Summers. Silas walked over to the laughing girl who would soon be ripped out of her place in the sky.

"Elizabeth, you're being reborn," the ancient angel stated. He rested a hand on the young woman and sighed.

"What do you mean, 'reborn'?" The ex-slayer's face was distorted into confusion. She gripped her mother's hand.

"Your friends are making you mortal -well, as mortal as a slayer gets- again. Do you want this?"

"No! I want to stay in peace. Up here with my mother! Why do I have to go down there? I-" The girl's sentence and rambling was cut off as a bright light flashed. When the light subsided, the young girl was gone and a great rumbling went throughout the heavens and a life appeared on the 'Born/Deceased' chart. The name was the same... 'Buffy Summers - Protector'. Silas sighed and laid a comforting hand on the crying Joyce.

"She will not suffer down there as the Powers That Be have predicted. I will make sure to confront the Oracles myself." And with that said, he fled from the scene and ended up in front of the Oracles.

"Great One," the Oracles began together.

"Don't, 'Great One' me, you pompus, flickering life-forms! You'd better make sure that Elizabeth Anne Summers does _not_ suffer on Earth! If she does I will make sure you BOTH are replaced and banished from the Realm for all eternity!" The old angel was risen to his full height of six-six and his sienna-colored skin had a red glow about it. His eyes flashed a clear, boasting blue before he vanished from the Realm, leaving the Oracles visibly shaken in his wake.

Little did Silas notice, The Champion Vampire had gone to see the Oracles five minutes before and was still there, hiding in a corner from the great, overly-masculine angel. He'd overheard everything, who wouldn't, that the 'Great One' angel had said and was shaken to the core of his very non-living body.

"Vampire, you have come here for a reason," the Powers declared simoultaneously.

"Yeah, but what the hell was that about?!" Angel asked incredulously.

Back in Sunydale:

A young woman watched as the biker demons terrorized the small town she was in. She wandered down the street and came upon a house that looked vaguely familiar to her. She walked up the path to the two-story, white Victorian house and turned the doorhandle and stepped inside, surprised that the door was unlocked. The girl gasped as she passed a mirror and caught her reflection.

She looked haggard and dirty. She didn't even remember how she got that horribly filthy, but she felt it. She ran her hands through her reddish blonde hair and groaned at the mess it was.

_Who am I?_ The woman wondered. _And why don't I remember anything?!_ The woman's thoughts were inturrupted by a gasp behind her.

"B-Buffy?"

The blonde lady twisted herself around and looked upon the younger teenaged girl. She raised her eyebrows and tried to ask where she was but coughed instead. She scolded herself for being sick, but didn't remeber _how_ she got sick in the first place.

"Let's g-get you some water," the teenager said. She guided the older woman passed the stairs and down a hall to the kitchen, where the brunette sat the woman on a stool and got a glass of water from the fridge. The blonde woman swallowed two gulps then tried again.

"Where am I?" Her voice came out not much more than a harsh whisper.

"You're home," the younger girl said. She had tears running down her cheeks and more were on the way. "You're home and safe and alive. You don't remember anything?" The blonde woman shook her head, abandoning the thought of talking for a while.

"DAWN?" The voice startled both young women and 'Dawn' rushed out to the voice.

"Spike, I have to show you-" She was cut off by the other voice rambling on about ripping her head off and drinking... something from it.

"Spike! Shut up, I have to show you something," Dawn yelled. The voice, obviously male and... English, shut up and followed the young girl to the kitchen. When they got there Dawn grinned and looked at the guy. "Look," was all she said.

"Yeah, I've seen the bloody bot... before..." He trailed off she he saw the blonde's hands and gasped. "Dawn, what did you do?"


	2. Inner Child

Disclaimer: I own only my mind and anything you don't recognize. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox does.

Chapter 2: Inner Child

After the little incident with Spike and Dawn battaling it out over why Buffy came back, Willow, Tara, Anya and Xander came bursting through the door, firing questions at Buffy. Dawn could see Buffy's distress so she piped up to calm everyone down.

"Everyone! Back off," she said loudly to drown out everyone else's voices.

"But-" Xander started.

"Back off," Dawn said more firmly.

"Guys, really. I'm fine. Just tired. I-I'll see you in the morning," Buffy said yawningly. She nodded to everyone and went up the stairs to her room.

When she was out of earshot, Willow reasoned, "She's back to normal. She always used to go to bed."

In the Heavenly Dimension:

Silas sighed a heavy sigh and sat down on a faintly glowing chair. He put his head in his hands and rubbed his ancient eyes. He heard faint footsteps and looked up to see a child version of Buffy. He blanched and looked deep into the eyes of the little girl.

"Elizabeth?" He gestured to another chair across from him and the little girl sat in it.

"Yep. Why am I up here... but, down... there, too?" The little girl hugged her teddy bear closer to her chest.

"I don't know," the older angel replied. He smiled at the young girl. "You could always ask Mary or Michael-Angelo," he offered.

Buffy shook her head. "I already asked mommy who I should see and she said that _you_ would be the best choice. She kinda looked at me funny though." The girl cocked her head to the side and gave him a shy smile.

"Well, let's take you to your mommy then, 'cause I don't know. I think we could send you down there to go into your older body, but I think the older you would end up having split personalities." Silas rubbed his chin. "We should go see the Powers That Be about it, huh?" He smiled a grimly when the girl shrunk away from his suggestion.

"Mommy said that you might say that. She said I could trust you." So she smiled a genuine grin at him and slipped her tiny hand into his gargantuan one.

In the Powers' Realm:

They flashed brightly and ended up inside of a warm room that looked like a lounge. On one side was a massive fireplace with a roaring fire inside. In front of that was two red-brown leather couches facing each other and a coffee table between them. Seated on the furthermost couch was a slim man in a red sweater and white slacks. He motioned for them to sit and they walked farther into the room.

"Please, sit," the man said.

"I take it you're one of the Powers," Silas assumed.

"I am. I have no name that any tongue could pronouce but, call me Ezreal." Ezreal smiled warmly at them as they sat on the opposite couch. "You two must be Silas and Buffy," he continued.

They nodded simultaneously.

"You know why we're here. Can you tell us what would happen to the older Buffy, should we send the Inner Child back?" Silas waited for Ezreal's answer.

"She would suffer a bit from the impact of having the Child sent to her. Headaches, dizziness, nausea. But they would subside within a few days," the Power informed them.

"That's to be expected, though... right?" Silas asked.

Ezreal closed his eyes and leaned closer to the two. "To be honest, an angel has never been torn from _any_ heavenly dimension, and the Inner Child has stayed in everyone, besides those who wish it out."


	3. Ring Around the Graveyard

AN: Sorry I didn't update for a while guys. Busy with the Buffy marathon that was going on here w/ me and my dad. Bonding time because he just got Season 7 and we finished it tonight with the big Spike's-a-burning-pillar-of-sunlight bashing. Strangely, Season 7 is the only one that I cry at. I'm highly emotional. Anyhoodles, here's Chapter 3 for you guys. Alrighty, nothing happened in Angel so Faith just kinda escaped jail... but not with Wes. I love writing Faith so we're gonna go along and put her in here._ Smile, it'll soften the killing blow._

**Chapter 3: Ring Around the Graveyard**

"Honestly, guys! I'm fine! Just a bit jumpy from being dead and all," Buffy said. She stretched and grabbed her coat off the coatrack by the door. "I'll be back in a few hours. Just need to work out a few kinks in the body." She smiled reassuringly and left the house, whistling a jaunty tune.

Buffy walked down the road and was nearly at Restfield Cemetary when Spike popped out from a shadow. She sighed and continued walking, hoping to release a bit of stress on some unexpecting newbie. Her luck caught up to her when she saw a hand shoot out of a grave three yards to her left. She rolled her eyes when a head popped up and then the other hand.

"Uh, could one of ya'll help a feller out? I seem to be stuck. Coffin or some-odd," the Texan-sounding vamp explained.

"You're stuck? Well, I guess I could help you." Buffy went behind him andpulled him out of the ground. "See? All... un-stuck and dust."

The vamp gave her a confused look right before exploding into dust from her staking it. Buffy dusted off her hands and continued on the prowl for some unlucky undead. She caught three of them offguard and kicked the first in the head, sending it flailing about. She sent another a roundhouse kick to the stomach and she was knocked down by the third. She kicked its legs from underneath it and did a double-axel to her feet. She threw a stake and caught the first one. The second and third took off running and both exploded into dust as Buffy threw another stake. When the dust cleared, Faith stepped out.

"Hey, B. Heard you were dead. Not that I'm worried or anything but, hey. Can't blame a girl for being curious." Faith smiled at her sister slayer and walked over to Buffy.

"Faith," Buffy sighed. "Thought there was some sort of funkiness going around. Heard you were in jail. How'd that work out?" Buffy asked.

"Five by five. Second month in and boom, there I go, out the window. So, vamp action growing or am I just missing out on the small fryes?" They walked along more headstones and stopped at the entrance on the south side of the graveyard.

Buffy shrugged. "Ehh... I've been kinda... iffy on the whole subject. Being dead does that to ya. It's just... it's been three months, I'm getting back into the swing of things but also I feel like I'm missing part of the funny." She looked at Faith and waited but Faith said nothing, silently encouraging her to go on.

"Xander tells jokes, everyone laughs, except for me. I don't laugh anymore. I miss it. I have bitchy puns instead of catty ones. It's starting to scare off the vamps. They take the threats seriously. Something big is going down and I'm not in on the evil secret," Buffy finished.

"It's okay, B. Life's a bitch so kick its ass! I mean, you're not getting any of the laughs, but hey. Who is? Sometimes you just gota ride out the storm. You know, go with the flow until the flow is no mo'." Faith smiled. "It'll get better, B. Don't worry." They headed in the direction of Buffy's house.

Back at the Summers' house:

"I'm just worried is all," Willow confessed to Tara.

"Sweety, nothing has changed. Buffy's just... getting used to living. Give her time," theblonde witch reasoned wisely. She kissed Willow's forehead and snuggled into the covers with her girlfriend.

"You're right. She'll be fine," Willow concurred. She yawned and tried to talk at the same time. "Sleep now, worry later. Pankakes in the morning?"

"Funny shapes or round?" Tara asked.

"Funy shapes make my tummy happy. So we'll go with them," Willow said tiredly. She spooned against her lover and fell asleep quickly.

Downstairs:

Buffy opened the front door quietly, not wanting to wake anyone. She went inside and motioned for Faith to follow. The dark slayer quickly went through the door and closed it silently behind her. She went to the couch and flopped down.

"I'll be back with a pillow and blanket," Buffy whispered. She went to a trunk and opened it up, pulling out a pillow and blanket. When she retured to Faith, the darker slayer was fast asleep, exhausted from the six or so vamps they dusted that night. Buffy lifted the head of Faith up and slipped the pillow under and laid the blanket over.

She tiptoed upstairs and was nearly to her room when a white-hot, firey pain shot through her. She gasped at the sheer, exsquisite pain and fell unconscious as she felt something being shoved inside her heart. She collapsed from the pain in the hallway.


End file.
